Legalising your TEFL certificate.
Once you have been offered a teaching position abroad, you may need to get your TEFL certificate legalised. If you have researched this online, this can also be referred to as an apostille. It is a relatively simple process if you know what you are doing, and depending on the time of year it can take up to 10 working days to complete.
You may also need to get your degree, police certificate or background check (DBS, Disclosure Scotland) legalised too. These documents follow the same legalising process.
Getting your documents ready
Before you can get your documents legalised, you need a notary public/solicitor to verify that the document is a genuine original (This can be called getting your certificate notarised ). You can search “notary public near me” online or contact your own solicitor. They will sign and date to confirm that your TEFL certificate is an original. The solicitor or notary public’s signature must be an original, hand-written signature. Electronic or scanned signatures are not accepted. Once this has been completed, you are ready to get your TEFL certificate legalised.
Getting your TEFL certificate legalised
Documents need to be legalised in the country that they were issued. As TEFL Org is in the United Kingdom, a TEFL Org certificate needs to be legalised in the United Kingdom.
- Go to the Get your document legalised section of the GOV.UK website https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised
- Select “Start a standard application” and “Educational certificate (UK)” from the document options available.
- Confirm that your certificate has been notarised, your personal details, where you would like the document returned to and your contact details.
You will then be asked to review your application before you are then directed to the payment page - currently, £30 per document using the standard application service.
Print off the order confirmation page and include it in the envelope along with your original TEFL certificate. This needs to be sent to:
The Legalisation Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
PO Box 7656
Milton Keynes
MK11 9NS
We would highly recommend using a courier or tracked delivery service e.g. Royal Mail Special Delivery.
For more information on how to get your TEFL certificate legalised, visit https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised
Based outside the United Kingdom?
We recommend using a registered apostille service such as Vital Consular , The Apostilles Group or Hague Apostille
This is a guide and subject to change. We recommend following the guidelines outlined on the GOV.UK website.